Brown Rats

 I'd noticed from the Isle of Wight County Press that Brown Rats had been spotted in the Freshwater Brook in the middle of town, and that action is going to be taken to deal with them. I made a little detour yesterday and found a spot that looked like it may have active Rat holes. Throwing down a couple of peanuts I only had to wait about 2 minutes before two Brown Rats suddenly appeared!


There's about 3 minutes of footage here. They are obviously quite confident, brazen even! I think children play in this brook as the weather improves, so they do need to be controlled, though I think they're fascinating animals and I always enjoy watching their antics. Thankfully, I've seen no sign of regular Brown Rat activity in the Water Vole areas yet. That would be bad news as Brown Rats will take Water Vole young.


This is the Water Vole footage I captured from the end of March - you can see the differences in the facial features between the Water Vole and the Brown Rat.